Feedback is typically given on a draft paper ("first best-version") of an assignment that the student then revises in light of your comments and his/her own reevaluation. In providing feedback on a student's assignment, you are providing a type of formative evaluation because your comments will help the student to shape his/her work and to provide the student with information on how to write and think in philosophy.
When you provide feedback, you act as an expert reader, only occasionally intervening in the student's efforts where not doing so would be negligent (more on this below). You are not an editor, and you do not make changes for the student. The responsibility for the paper and the revisions lies ultimately with the student.
Note: for feedback on other kinds of writing and assignments, please refer to the Low-stakes Writing page.
An expert reader is someone who has expertise in a particular field and can provide comments and feedback on areas of the paper that need attention. As an expert philosophy reader, you might address concerns such as:
Think about the inner monologue you have when you read an article. You are thinking and responding as a critical, expert reader. These are the kinds of comments that are helpful feedback on a paper. Here are some examples of margin comments for different kinds of situations.
Unclear claims or problems with connecting claims
Not explaining a point or an example
Not anticipating objections when explaining or when taking a position
You'll notice that these comments are longer than the '?' or 'awk' or just 'explain' that you might have seen used on a paper. While these abbreviated forms of your thoughts about the paper might be easier for you to use, they're not very helpful for a student learning how to write philosophy papers. It's better to write fewer comments that a student can use, than to pepper a paper with vague indications that the paper needs some work.
A rubric is a set of guidelines that has been standardized for a particular use, such as a philosophy paper. Using rubrics can help simplify the feedback process, keeping your feedback focused for an individual paper and standardized across your tutorials. Rubrics also help you to manage your marking time. For more information on rubrics and how to use them, please see the Rubrics page.
The formative evaluation nature of feedback means that providing feedback for a paper takes longer than grading the revised version. In practical terms, this translates roughly to 20 minutes per paper for a typical lower-division W course in philosophy, compared with 15 minutes per paper for grading. Note that these are general guidelines only; consult with your course supervisor for accurate guidelines.
Given the per-paper time limit and the number of papers (54 for three full tutorials), you will need to have a solid grasp of the topic and be focused in your feedback in order to evaluate the papers in an efficient and timely manner. It's helpful to discuss the paper topic(s) and the course instructor's expectations at your weekly course meeting prior to starting. Here are a some general tips for saving time when providing feedback: